Long-Term Trajectories of Human Civilization

TY - JOUR

T1 - Long-Term Trajectories of Human Civilization

AU - Baum, Seth D.

AU - Armstrong, Stuart

AU - Ekenstedt, Timoteus

AU - Häggström, Olle

AU - Hanson, Robin

AU - Kuhlemann, Karin

AU - Maas, Matthijs Michiel

AU - Miller, James D.

AU - Salmela, Markus

AU - Sandberg, Anders

AU - Sotala, Kaj

AU - Torres, Phil

AU - Turchin, Alexey

AU - Yampolskiy, Roman V.

N1 - Seth D. Baum, Stuart Armstrong, Timoteus Ekenstedt, Olle Häggström, Robin Hanson, Karin Kuhlemann, Matthijs M. Maas, James D. Miller, Markus Salmela, Anders Sandberg, Kaj Sotala, Phil Torres, Alexey Turchin, and Roman V. Yampolskiy. Long-Term Trajectories of Human Civilization. Foresight, forthcoming, DOI 10.1108/FS-04-2018-0037.

PY - 2019/3/11

Y1 - 2019/3/11

N2 - Purpose: This paper aims to formalize long-term trajectories of human civilization as a scientific and ethical field of study. The long-term trajectory of human civilization can be defined as the path that human civilization takes during the entire future time period in which human civilization could continue to exist. Design/methodology/approach: This paper focuses on four types of trajectories: status quo trajectories, in which human civilization persists in a state broadly similar to its current state into the distant future; catastrophe trajectories, in which one or more events cause significant harm to human civilization; technological transformation trajectories, in which radical technological breakthroughs put human civilization on a fundamentally different course; and astronomical trajectories, in which human civilization expands beyond its home planet and into the accessible portions of the cosmos. Findings: Status quo trajectories appear unlikely to persist into the distant future, especially in light of long-term astronomical processes. Several catastrophe, technological transformation and astronomical trajectories appear possible. Originality/value: Some current actions may be able to affect the long-term trajectory. Whether these actions should be pursued depends on a mix of empirical and ethical factors. For some ethical frameworks, these actions may be especially important to pursue.

AB - Purpose: This paper aims to formalize long-term trajectories of human civilization as a scientific and ethical field of study. The long-term trajectory of human civilization can be defined as the path that human civilization takes during the entire future time period in which human civilization could continue to exist. Design/methodology/approach: This paper focuses on four types of trajectories: status quo trajectories, in which human civilization persists in a state broadly similar to its current state into the distant future; catastrophe trajectories, in which one or more events cause significant harm to human civilization; technological transformation trajectories, in which radical technological breakthroughs put human civilization on a fundamentally different course; and astronomical trajectories, in which human civilization expands beyond its home planet and into the accessible portions of the cosmos. Findings: Status quo trajectories appear unlikely to persist into the distant future, especially in light of long-term astronomical processes. Several catastrophe, technological transformation and astronomical trajectories appear possible. Originality/value: Some current actions may be able to affect the long-term trajectory. Whether these actions should be pursued depends on a mix of empirical and ethical factors. For some ethical frameworks, these actions may be especially important to pursue.

U2 - 10.1108/FS-04-2018-0037

DO - 10.1108/FS-04-2018-0037

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1463-6689

VL - 21

SP - 53

EP - 83

JO - Foresight

JF - Foresight

IS - 1

ER -